The pathology and treatment of Asiatic cholera, so called / by A.L. Cox.

  • Cox, Abm. L. (Abraham Lidden), 1800-1864
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The pathology and treatment of Asiatic cholera, so called / by A.L. Cox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    the ribs lieave. The cramps subside, but the heart stops its action entirely, so that no pulsation can be heard, even by the ear closely pressed to the chest of the patient; yet respiration continues laborious, and the breath is icy cold. Deep coma comes on, and, in children, the eyes are turned up, and in them strabismus and symptoms like phre- nitis are observed. At any rate, at this period there is generally in their cases considerable cerebral disturbance. The patient is tormented with thii-st, and complains of burning heat of his surface, while that surface feels like ice to his nurse. The pupils of the eyes are usually contracted to the minutest point. Death is the next symptom. Li all this series of symptoms, it is impossible to recognise any- thing but the act of dying as the consequence of the terrible depletion produced by previous discharges from the bowels. THE DISCHARGES CONSIST OF THE FLUID PART OF THE BLOOD. In order to render intelligible the very peculiar occurrences of this form of disease, it is essential to keep in mind that the original s3Tnp- tom is nothing more than a discharge of fluid in immense quantities from the bowels. In fact, it is a copious hjemorrhage of the fluid parts of the circulating mass. That this discharge is derived from the blood-vessels of the intestines is indisputable, when we reflect that the bodies of those who have died of cholera, and have had no par- tial relief from treatment and drinks, present the extraordinary })eculiarity of being without fluid ; nothing remains in the small ves- sels but the thick parts of the blood. Frequently, mere clots or coagula in the larger vessels, and dark grumous blood in the smaller ones.
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